logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2024
1h 9m

How Gay Was Abraham Lincoln?

Sony Music Entertainment / Jonathan Van Ness
About this episode

We’re looking for a man in politics. Thick thighs. 6’4”. Blue eyes. Abraham Lincoln, course - or as we’re lovingly referring to him on this episode: GAY-braham Lincoln. That’s right - today we’re exploring whether or not  “America’s best president” was also a soft-top zaddy! And to do that - we’re bringing in experts from the upcoming film, Lover of Men. We’ve got Shaun Peterson (the director) and Thomas Balcerski (one of the film’s historians) joining JVN to give us the receipts, timelines,  screenshots, f*cking everything to figure out if President Lincoln was a little…ya know…


Thomas Balcerski is a scholar of early American history. He holds a B.A. from Cornell University, an M.A. from SUNY Stony Brook, and a Ph.D. from Cornell University. He is author of Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King (Oxford University Press, 2019). Thomas is also one of the most cited Abraham Lincoln historians, and is featured in the new documentary: Lover of Men. 


Shaun Peterson got a B.A. in Film Production and Theater Arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Peterson has worked as an editor for MTV, VH1, and A&E. He directed his first feature film, Living In Missouri in 1999. He then started directing music videos for bands such as Train, Team Sleep, And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Vendetta Red, and Low. Shaun is the director of the new documentary Lover of Men, Out September 6th.


You can follow the Lover of Men on Instagram @loverofmenfilm or on loverofmen.com Lover of Men is proud to partner with The Human Rights Campaign. A portion of ticket sales from Lover of Men will directly benefit HRC when moviegoers use HRC’s custom ticket purchase link.


Lover of Men is in theaters September 6th, 2024.


Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.


Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.


Find books from Getting Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn.


Our senior producer is Chris McClure. Our editor & engineer is Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall.


Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.


Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Up next
Yesterday
How to Stay Hopeful (and Powerful) When Rights Are Under Threat — with Planned Parenthood’s Alexis McGill Johnson
Planned Parenthood President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson is here and we are fired up! Alexis is leading the fight to protect reproductive freedom at a time when access to healthcare is under attack across the U.S.—and she’s breaking it all down for us. JVN sat down with Alexis ... Show More
48m 42s
Oct 7
Presenting Heavyweight: The Messenger
Looking for your next favorite podcast (besides mine, of course)? Heavyweight, hosted by Jonathan Goldstein, will break your heart...and then put it back together. In each episode, Jonathan helps someone revisit a defining regret, lost connection, or unsolved mystery from their l ... Show More
38m 47s
Oct 6
AI Trump Memes, OBBBA Tax Breaks & Healthcare Cuts
We’re talking: WAYWARD’s No. 1 spot on Netflix, celeb sightings at The Corner Store, Figure Skating & Gymnastics on Peacock, bag etiquette, AI Trump posts, One Big Beautiful Bill Act tax breaks & healthcare cuts, what extreme gender ideology actually is, situationship ghosting, L ... Show More
31m 21s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2024
Was Abraham Lincoln Gay . . . And Should We Care?
The writer Carl Sandburg, in his 1926 biography of Abraham Lincoln, made a provocative claim—that the President’s relationship with the Kentucky state representative Joshua Speed held “streaks of lavender.” The insinuation fuelled a debate that has continued ever since: Was Linco ... Show More
41m 54s
Aug 2023
The Man Who Killed The Man Who Killed Lincoln (1894) [[Archive Episode]]
As we wrap up summer, we’re bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We’ll see you after Labor Day! /// It’s August 30th. This day in 1894, a man by the name of Thomas H “Boston” Corbett is presumed dead in a fire in Minnesota. Boston Corbett led a troubled l ... Show More
17m 35s
Sep 2024
481. 10 Disruptive Truths | Vivek Ramaswamy
Dr. Jordan B. Peterson sits down with author, podcaster, and patriot Vivek Ramaswamy. They discuss his new book (releasing September 24th), “Truths: The Future of America First.” In this episode, they explore the reality of God, the fundamental nature of the sexual binary, how th ... Show More
1h 24m
Jun 2017
William Elison, et.al. “Amar Akbar Anthony: Bollywood, Brotherhood, and the Nation” (Harvard UP, 2016)
Amar Akbar Anthony is a film like no other. When you see it you cannot forget it. Filled with music, comedy, drama, and love it captures audiences in multiple ways. But what can we learn from a deeper look at this classic of Hindi cinema? William Elison, Assistant Professor at Un ... Show More
1h 13m
Sep 2024
483. Woodstock for the Adventurous and Responsible | Bret Weinstein & Heather Heying
Dr. Jordan B. Peterson sits down with Dr. Bret Weinstein and Dr. Heather Heying to discuss the state of our country, the evolution of corruption, and the unified vision of the future we can all rally behind. Dr. Weinstein is an evolutionary biologist who specializes in adaptive t ... Show More
1h 34m
Dec 2021
[Unedited] Vivek Murthy and Richard Davidson with Krista Tippett
What if the future of well-being is about “tipping the scales in the world away from fear and toward love”? And what if it’s a surgeon general of the United States, Dr. Vivek Murthy, who talks this way? Krista draws him out with his friend, the groundbreaking neuroscientist Richa ... Show More
1h 15m
Apr 2025
631. Will "3 Summers of Lincoln" Make It to Broadway?
It’s been in development for five years and has at least a year to go. On the eve of its out-of-town debut, the actor playing Lincoln quit. And the producers still need to raise another $15 million to bring the show to New York. There really is no business like show business. (Pa ... Show More
46m 19s
Mar 2025
Remembering The South African Playwright Who Defied Apartheid
Athol Fugard's plays, like Blood Knot and Master Harold and the Boys, were about the emotional and psychological consequences of Apartheid. He also formed an integrated theater company in the 1960s, in defiance of South African norms. The playwright, who died Saturday, spoke with ... Show More
45m 35s
Sep 2024
Robert Duncan Milne: A Lost Pioneer of Science Fiction
Unlike most episodes there are no film spoilers ahead! For full detailed show notes please click the episode on this page and scroll down. This episode we take a huge jump back to the end of the 19th century and a side step to science fiction literature rather than film. Robert D ... Show More
40m 48s
Mar 2025
50 Years Of 'Rocky Horror'
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is 50 years old, and still going strong in midnight theaters. We're listening back to Terry's 2005 interview with Tim Curry, who starred on stage and in the film as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the "sweet transvestite" from Transylvania. Also, we remember the ... Show More
46m 39s